Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq     

    AMMAN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Thursday called for more international aids to countries hosting millions of Iraqis displaced by the U.S.-led invasion to Iraq in 2003.

    "The world should support countries hosting refugees to help them overcome burdens on the services, infrastructure and resources," Jordanian Foreign Minister Salah Bashir told a conference here.

    "We all, Iraq and neighboring countries as well as the international community, have a top priority to create suitable circumstances for the return of Iraqi refugees to their country," he said.

    Bashir also highlighted Iraqi government's key role in encouraging Iraqis to return home.

    More than 4.7 million Iraqis have been displaced by the conflict. Among them, about 450,000 to 500,000 fled to Jordan, according to a study by the government and an independent Norwegian survey group.

    The Iraqi refugees has posed huge financial burdens to hosting countries. Jordan put the costs of sheltering Iraqi refugees over the past three years at more than two billion U.S. dollars.

    In January, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) appealed for 261 million dollars for this year's "core funding of services" for Iraqis uprooted by the war, of which 54,290,475 dollars was allocated for Jordanian operations, according to the refugee agency.